I never completely comprehended the limitations his cervical spine injury and the legacy of four surgeries imposed on him. Prior to surgery, the neurologic damage to his throwing arm led him to be unable to throw an eight yard pass. After the surgery, his pain was better, but his nerve damage persisted. His coaches and trainers were scared for him. According to Jenkins, his former offensive coordinator at Tennessee said,

“He was so out of whack, I had to ask him to quit throwing. He was on his way to hurting himself…He had to rebuild his mechanics from the ground up. He had to relearn everything.”

Manning and everyone around him couldn’t help but think that perhaps he would never recover. And to add insult to injury, in the midst of this physical and emotional crisis, the Indianapolis Colts cut him. The Super Bowl winner and living legend was released from the team he never wanted to leave. Peyton would graciously thank his owners, his team and his fans, he would move to Denver, and he would come back. Incredibly. (via)

and FYI, we here at 2Pz generally pick our super bowl favorite using the scientific which-team-has-the-most-vols formula. here are the results: